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The Papers of William A. Graham 287
Will you be so kind as to send me, to Richmond, Exchange
Hotel, an introductory letter, which may be of service in procuring
a permit from the Confederate authorities.
To Kemp P. Battle UNC-Battle
Hillsboro'
July 13th. 1861.
My Dear Sir
I enclose herewith agreeably to your desire, a note of introduction
to the President or Secretary of War. As you are a younger traveller
than I, let me suggest, that you call at the Presidents office, say
between 12 & 2 oclock, send in the letter with your card. If he has
leisure to see you, very well, if not, call at the office of the Secretary
of War, and between the two, you can probably get the permit
desired. It will be respectful, and no doubt well received, if you
likewise call at his office, on Governor Letcher,93 inform him that
you are a member of the Convention of the State, and have called
to pay your respects. I would send you a note introductory to him,
but your position is a sufficient introduction. In the same manner,
if you choose, you can call on any of the Heads of departments,
whom curiosity, if no other motive, may prompt you to see.
And as Cicero says, it would be no gratification for one to ascend
up into the skies, if he had no friend, to whom to tell what he had
there seen. I shall be glad, at your leisure to have some account of
your adventures and observations.
Will you allow me also, to trouble you to purchase in Richmond,
the recent work of Professor Gilliam of the Va. Military Institute,
on Military tactics. Wm. my son wishes it, with reference especially
93 John Letcher (1813-1884), of Lexington, Virginia, graduated from Washington
(now Washington and Lee) College in 1833. He became a lawyer and journalist, edit-ing
the Valley Star, a Democratic paper in a Whig county. By 1847 he had become
an advocate of abolition in northwestern Virginia. While representing his district
in Congress (1851-1859), he defended southern rights but never glorified slavery. He
supported Douglas in the presidential contest of 1860 and opposed secession until
Lincoln's call for troops. He served as war governor of Virginia (1860-1864) and
supported the Confederate war effort with vigor. After the war, Letcher advised
Virginians to accept the results of defeat; and he set a good example for them by
quietly resuming his law practice in Lexington. He was twice a delegate to the
state House of Delegates in the 1870s. William G. Bean, "John Letcher,'' Dictionary
of American Biography, XI, 192.

The Papers of William A. Graham 287
Will you be so kind as to send me, to Richmond, Exchange
Hotel, an introductory letter, which may be of service in procuring
a permit from the Confederate authorities.
To Kemp P. Battle UNC-Battle
Hillsboro'
July 13th. 1861.
My Dear Sir
I enclose herewith agreeably to your desire, a note of introduction
to the President or Secretary of War. As you are a younger traveller
than I, let me suggest, that you call at the Presidents office, say
between 12 & 2 oclock, send in the letter with your card. If he has
leisure to see you, very well, if not, call at the office of the Secretary
of War, and between the two, you can probably get the permit
desired. It will be respectful, and no doubt well received, if you
likewise call at his office, on Governor Letcher,93 inform him that
you are a member of the Convention of the State, and have called
to pay your respects. I would send you a note introductory to him,
but your position is a sufficient introduction. In the same manner,
if you choose, you can call on any of the Heads of departments,
whom curiosity, if no other motive, may prompt you to see.
And as Cicero says, it would be no gratification for one to ascend
up into the skies, if he had no friend, to whom to tell what he had
there seen. I shall be glad, at your leisure to have some account of
your adventures and observations.
Will you allow me also, to trouble you to purchase in Richmond,
the recent work of Professor Gilliam of the Va. Military Institute,
on Military tactics. Wm. my son wishes it, with reference especially
93 John Letcher (1813-1884), of Lexington, Virginia, graduated from Washington
(now Washington and Lee) College in 1833. He became a lawyer and journalist, edit-ing
the Valley Star, a Democratic paper in a Whig county. By 1847 he had become
an advocate of abolition in northwestern Virginia. While representing his district
in Congress (1851-1859), he defended southern rights but never glorified slavery. He
supported Douglas in the presidential contest of 1860 and opposed secession until
Lincoln's call for troops. He served as war governor of Virginia (1860-1864) and
supported the Confederate war effort with vigor. After the war, Letcher advised
Virginians to accept the results of defeat; and he set a good example for them by
quietly resuming his law practice in Lexington. He was twice a delegate to the
state House of Delegates in the 1870s. William G. Bean, "John Letcher,'' Dictionary
of American Biography, XI, 192.